Global Tamil Forum and Fonseka – New weapons of the west

By Nalin de Silva

(March 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) David Miliband the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of England and its colonies in the British Isles has addressed delegates of a so called Global Tamil Forum in the buildings of the House of Parliament in Westminster. It is true that Global Tamil Forum is not formally associated with the LTTE and it is also true that the British Foreign minister has not addressed formally an organisation banned in Britain. Miliband the descendant of an immigrant Jew can always claim that he did not do anything wrong in addressing the delegates of the Global Tamil Forum which is not banned in Britain nor identified as a terrorist organisation. There is nothing much in what he has told the delegates which incidentally has included a Bhikku from Sri Lanka except that peace is yet to be won. Of course he has referred to the freedom of press and the arrest of the opposition candidate at the last Presidential election. The gullible in Britain would think that the Government is keeping in custody an innocent person whose only crime was to challenge President Rajapaksa at the Presidential elections held in January.

The world including Sri Lanka when it comes to matters outside their countries, and very often in their countries as well, depend on and are led by the western news agencies. For example Gulf News on March 1st had published the following report. "Wasting little time in seizing upon his 17-point electoral victory, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa quickly consolidated his power by having his opponent General Sarath Fonseka arrested. Fonseka was detained on February 8, accused of plotting to assassinate Rajapaksa and seize control of the government."

Sometime before the military police took Sarath Fonseka into custody, in early December 2009, I wrote in The Island as well as in Irida Divaina that he should be produced before a court martial, not because he was the opposition candidate at the Presidential elections, but after his visit to USA I was convinced that he had turned out to be a "crown witness" for the Americans in the so called white flag incident. It was on or about 10th July 2009 that Sarath Fonseka at a function held at Dharmashoka College to felicitate him, came out with the story that the Army had shot at those who came with white flags. It may be so or Sarath Fonseka was only trying to be veeraya by claiming something that never happened, and get the "credit" for killing those who came with white flags. In either case he had betrayed the Armed Forces as well as the government and soon after on the 15th July the government removed him from the position he held and made the Chief of Defence Staff. It was clear that something was brewing up and for the westerners who had wanted to take revenge from President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for killing Prabhakaran it was a God given opportunity. All the discussions between Sarath Fonseka, the UNP and JVP Parliamentarians and Fonseka’s visit to USA happened after this, and as a Green Card holder of USA after his statement at Dharmashoka College he was probably put under pressure by the USA government. It has to be remembered that a case had been filed against him and the Defence Secretary in the courts of California on human rights violation. Fonseka the man who said at his alma mater that those who came with white flags were shot does not want the "credit" now and wants to give it to the others saying that he heard from a so called journalist that the Defence Secretary had ordered Major General Shavendra Silva to shoot anybody who came with white flags. How the journalist heard this conversation is left to the imagination of Blake, Miliband and others who are very much concerned with the death of Prabhakaran than with the deaths of those who were killed by him or on his orders.

When it is clear that Fonseka was arrested not as the candidate of the opposition but as an officer in the armed forces according to the Army Act, Blake and Miliband who having being brought up in Judaic Christian culture and knowing very well how to separate the work of Officer Fonseka from that of the Presidential candidate try to mislead the whole world including the British and the Americans that the Presidential candidate has been arrested. If it is the Presidential candidate who has been arrested why should the government allow Fonseka to contest at the Parliamentary elections to be held in April? If the government is sacred of the politician Fonseka then why allow him to contest while in custody as it will give him the opportunity to attract the sympathy vote as well? It is clear that Blake (and Miliband) by the following statement wants to mislead the world further. "So far I think it has been less than we might have hoped for, but we have certainly encouraged the government of Sri Lanka to ensure that he (Fonseka) is charged promptly, as you said, and that everything is handled in accordance with Sri Lankan law as they move forward."

Both Blake and Miliband wanted the Supreme Court to say that the arrest of Fonseka was illegal. However, the Supreme Court allowed the military police to keep the General in custody, and now both of them have nothing more to say on that particular aspect. However, they would not give up their battle on behalf of the General who is now their crown witness as well as the star witness.

The west is hell bent on bringing this government down, and they have two weapons at hand. One is Tamil racism sponsored by them. It was the west that gave birth to Tamil racism and nourished it in the country. There are some Sinhalas who think that the western politicians support Tamil racism because of the votes of the Tamils who live in those countries. Except in Toronto and London there are not many Tamils in the other cities in the west, and the Tamil vote is not significant in those countries. On the other hand it is the west that keeps Tamil racism kicking. The Global Tamil Forum is nothing but a creation of the west for the west and in the future it is expected to play a big role "internationally" though nationally its influence would be minimal. People such as Fr. Emmanuel who had connections with the LTTE would be the flag bearers of the so called Forum and they would be supported by the NGOs locally with TNA making an occasional noise.

However, the unexpected support for the Forum would come from the other weapon of the west against the government, namely Fonseka and the JVP. The west knows that it is impossible to bring down the government through elections in the foreseeable future, and they have no time for Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNF. It is likely that the UPFA gets a two third majority at the elections as we are returning to the Provincial Councils elections trend that saw electorates with Sinhala, especially Sinhala Buddhist majority voting more than 70% for the UPFA. This trend was curtailed by Fonseka who polled about 8% of the nationalist vote. However, many of these nationalists would vote for the UPFA at the Parliamentary elections and with the bonus seats in 17 districts going to the Alliance a two thirds majority is not an impossibility. Thus the west does not want Ranil anymore but an extra Parliamentary person like Fonseka and an extra Parliamentary party like the JVP in order to create problems for the government.

If somebody still thinks that the west is very democratic, open minded and tolerates other views then he or she must be day dreaming. The west does not want any government that does not fit into its hegemony to exist and will try to bring that government by hook or crook. Fonseka and the so called Global Tamil Forum will be given publicity in the coming months and the so called international press will try to create heroes out of them. It cannot be a mistake by the BBC to refer to Fonseka as the leader of the opposition and the west may even try to use Ven. Bhikkus against the government if possible. If Fonseka comes to the Parliament, though an unlikely event, Ranil will be eclipsed "internationally" with the help of the western media. In any event Fonseka will be projected as a hero who has been ill-treated by the government. It is not only the GSP plus that we would lose, and we should expect economic sanctions imposed against Sri Lanka in the future, so that Fonseka and the JVP could take the fight against the government to the streets.